Author Archives: Kimber Johnson

Kimber Johnson

About Kimber Johnson

Kimber Johnson is the co-founder of Pacific App Design. Kimber has worked within the web development, graphics design, mobile application development, marketing and advertising fields for over 17 years.

Quick Tips for Mobile Application Development

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The world is at our fingertips, thanks to the presence of smartphones and mobile application development companies who keep on coming up with innovative mobile apps that make life easier. There are a multitude of mobile apps available in the Google Play and Apple Stores to cater to different user needs. All this has an impact on the world as a whole. Many companies are looking forward to developing their own mobile applications so that they can better communicate and sell their products to their target audience.

Your app should aim to meet the primary needs of the user or the business you are developing the application for

Your app should aim to meet the primary needs of the user or the business you are developing the application for | Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns (Flikr)

The following are some quick tips that a business or developer embarking on mobile application development efforts should keep in mind.

Ease of use

Even though almost half of the world population now own smartphones, it does not necessarily mean that that everyone is an expert at using them. Your application should be easy to use and created in such a manner that they intuitively serve their assigned objective. Difficult to use applications often puzzle users and are abandoned or deleted.

Create an offline experience

Sure your home and office sure have reliable WI-FI, but away from there the user of your application has a completely different experience. Sometimes, the network is slow; sometimes there is no network at all. Perhaps your app user is on a camping trip in a remote area. Or, maybe, they are on a flight and they don’t want to pay for WI-FI. That is why you need to think ahead about how an application works in the offline mode or when Wi-Fi isn’t available. You should attempt to provide, as much as possible, the same user experience even on spotty network areas.

You should plan on your app being available on as many devices as possible

An increasing number of mobile application development companies recognize that users no longer stick to a single device. Today, devices of all kinds – smartphones, tablets, phablets, wearables, etc. – are pouring into the market. For this reason, developers need to make sure their application is available across multiple devices and platforms.

Don’t pack in too many features

As a developer, your app should only aim to meet the primary needs of the user or the business you are developing the application for. Focus only on your target audience while building your app. Good user experience means doing more with less. Anything that the user will find difficult to use will not sell and this means wasted time, money and effort on your part.

Test your application

The main testing phase in mobile application development comes after the application has been coded and before the launch. Most of negative app reviews are associated with bugs that were not picked up before the launch. So it is important to spend a decent amount of time testing the application throughout the whole process — to ensure its quality.

These tests are absolutely important in order to ensure that you are entering the market with a strong product. The application may not pass your testing the first time but if you run it through the cycle of tests a few times and make the necessary tweaks and improvements, the application will eventually hold strong.

Conclusion

Creating your first mobile application can be a challenging experience. It requires a great deal of technical, designing and development knowledge. However, the above tips can give you a great start. If you start in the right direction, you will definitely be able to create great applications that will serve users and companies better.

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Are You Improving the User Experience of Your Mobile App?

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User experience is a topic that is hotter than ever in the world of mobile app development. According to a new study conducted by Survata Research Partners,  64% of the mobile marketers surveyed from enterprise brands, said “the top priority for their mobile apps is to enhance the customer experience and drive customer loyalty.”

According to Greg Stuart, CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, who was quoted in the report, “This is a significant shift from 24 months ago when mobile apps from this class of enterprise brands were primarily for sharing information or driving commerce transactions.”

The top priority for their mobile apps is to enhance the customer experience.

The top priority for their mobile apps is to enhance the customer experience. | Photo: TechStage (Flikr)

How does this shift of focus affect you and your mobile app development?

These marketers have realized the importance of user experience and are rapidly making changes to improve their apps. Brands who fail to acknowledge the importance of creating an intuitive, pleasing user experience will find themselves falling behind their competition who are working to improve the experience of using their app.

How do we improve our apps’ user experience?

Should you wisely decide it is the time to improve the user experience of your application, you should know that user experience design is made up of a range of disciplines, from customer research to information architecture and knowledge management, interaction design and user interface design. Many businesses choose to hire in-house specialists but there are many UX agencies that can be hired to help improve your product.

Is it worth it?

According to some studies, every $1 invested in UX can have a return of up to $100. Clearly this can make a big difference on the bottom line of your business. It benefits your customers and it benefits your brand.  Remember that customers want to interact with apps that are pleasantly designed and easy to navigate. This is why apps that have positive UX earn repeat visits from users.

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Mobile App Sales Taking Hold and Growing

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Mobile is becoming more and more important to businesses around the globe. In a recent survey by Urban Airship of more than 100 UK retail executives, half of the retailers surveyed stated that between 21% and 50% of their online sales now come via a mobile device. Clearly either you should be considering how Android app or iPhone app development fits into your sales channels.

Currently, mobile devices account for 22% of all retail online sales in the U.S., which is expected to reach 27% by 2018.

Currently, mobile devices account for 22% of all retail online sales in the U.S., which is expected to reach 27% by 2018. | Photo: TechStage (Flikr)

According to Tim Paterson, from Urban Airship. “A growing number of consumers prefer mobile apps to traditional websites. And although more digital transactions still occur outside of mobile apps, it’s the crucial pre-shopping interactions taking place via mobile that can have a big impact on the buying process.”

Currently, mobile devices account for 22% of all retail online sales in the U.S., which is expected to reach 27% by 2018. In a Flurry Analytics study, they found that the average US mobile consumers spends 86% of their time on a smartphone using apps.

An example of just how important mobile is to sales is the Cyber Monday from this past holiday season, according to IBM, mobile traffic accounted for almost half of all online traffic and 28% of online sales, which is an increase of more than 25% over last year. Given these stats, it is obvious that mobile apps are not going away any time soon. Clearly you should use them to your advantage, if you aren’t already.

If you haven’t entered the mobile arena, its not too late. Keep in mind that over time the technology associated with of smartphones is improving, allowing the apps they use to improve in complexity, this constantly creates new space for new ideas for apps to enter the market. Additionally, the market is constantly maturing, the old philosophy of building a better mousetrap certainly applies to mobile apps, if you can offer an easier or more intuitive way to perform tasks users will take note.

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4 Mobile Marketing Trends Dominate 2015

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Looking back at mobile marketing in 2015, the stand out programs featured innovative efforts to create immersive experiences that were able to connect with audiences.

Mobile marketing programs are featuring increased levels of sophistication in their approach and in 2015 we saw some trends stand out from the rest. Take a look at these before starting your next mobile app development project and see if any of these can be used to improve your initiatives.

1. Omni-channel Strategy

Top mobile marketing campaigns in 2015 tied in with other channels, being supported by social and other media channels.

Today's omni-channel consumer wants everything to be readily available at his or her fingertips

Today’s omni-channel consumer wants everything to be readily available at his or her fingertips | Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns (Flikr)

Today’s omni-channel consumer wants everything to be readily available at his or her fingertips and expects a similar brand experience regardless of the channel. To illustrate the importance of how mobile fits into the shopping experience consider that  80% of shoppers check prices online and that a third will access price and other information on their mobile device while inside the physical stores [MIT].

Your mobile marketing should leverage social and other channels, creating a seamless experience for you customers. Use your print ads and social pages to drive users to your app.

2. Build Relationships

Top mobile marketing campaigns used mobile to build relationships with customers. In fact, improving brand experience and increasing engagement is one of the most common goals of these campaigns.

When it comes to mobile apps, engagement often starts and stops with push notifications.  If you can get your users to opt-in to push notifications and stay opted-in you will see sizable improvements in engagement. App users who receive push notifications are 4 times more engaged than those that don’t. Additionally, the are twice as likely to be retained.

One of the key driving factors here has been improvements in personalized communication.

3. Social Sharing

In 2015, top mobile campaigns made good use of social to enhance interactivity. Did you know that consumers are more likely to share via a mobile device than their PC by a margin of 2 to 1?

Humans are social creatures and love to share. Take advantage with this with your mobile marketing campaigns and create campaigns that users will want to share.

4. Augmented Reality

Technological innovations are helping push augmented reality and enhancing the use of AR as a marketing trend.

An example of this would be Volvo’s virtual reality app that allowed users to virtually test drive the new XC90 using Google Cardboard before it was available. The campaign was wildly successful, creating over 40,000 app downloads that generated more than 34,000 leads.  When the XC90 hit the showroom, the entire run of the XC90 sold out in less than two days.

Looking Forward

Looking forward to 2016, expect to see businesses use micro-videos such as Vines as part of campaigns where they tell a longer story.

Micro-videos are ideal for the mobile format. Make sure to take advantage of that opportunity. Remember that a different approach to video production and story telling will be required here.

Pic: http://bit.ly/1RZ6AU2